Julie Gold has stated that she believes in an immanent and beneficent God, and also thinks that people have a right to interpret the song any way they want, as with all art.[2] She has stated that the song is about the difference between how things appear to be and how they really are.[2]

Nanci Griffith recorded it first in her 1987 album Lone Star State of Mind. Nanci Griffith told the story that in 1986, a songwriter Julie Gold had sent her the song asking Griffith what was wrong with it, as Gold had sent it to so many artists and record companies but none wanted to record it. Griffith had answered that she loved it so much the moment she heard it and that she really wanted to hear it performed personally by Gold herself. Thus was established a good relationship between the two with Griffith being the first to record "From a Distance" in her Lone Star State of Mind album. Although the Griffith version became very popular, Griffith's version failed to chart until Bette Midler covered it.

Griffith performed it live many times from that day on and a version of her live performance done on August 19 and 20, 1988 at the Anderson Fair, a Houston, Texas club and long known for featuring folk artists in an intimate setting, appeared in her live album One Fair Summer Evening.

Midler re-recorded a Christmas version for her 2006 Christmas album, Cool Yule, with additional lyrics by Midler, Robbie Buchanan and Jay Landers. Additional recordings of the original have been performed by Gold, Griffith, Simon Nicol (of Fairport Convention) and many others.

The Midler recording of the song ranked at number 37 on VH1's list of the "50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs Ever."[8] and ranked at number 14 on Blender Magazine's list of "The 50 Worst Songs Ever".[9] Criticisms focus on the song's lyrical content and the production of Midler's version, suggesting the single offers "liberal homilies, stiff rhymes and more sound F/X than a Mel Gibson movie".[9]Blender's editors declare the "Worst Moment" to result from the use of the drum machine, stating, "If God exists, He probably hates drum machines."[9]

More recently, Matthew Wilkening of AOL Radio ranked Midler's version of the song at #59 on the list of the 100 Worst Songs Ever, stating that God is "no dummy", with "less chance of hearing this [song] from up there".[10]

"From a Distance" became a 2011 charity single[12] in support of Magdalene Survivors Together, a charity set in July 2009 by Steven O'Riordan and Gerard Boland focusing on the human rights aspect of the Magdalene Laundries in Ireland. Steven O' Riordan, was a young Irish filmmaker who had directed and produced a documentary called The Forgotten Maggies[13] about Magdalene Laundries asylum institutions in Ireland.

Directed and produced by O'Riordan himself, the 2011 single had vocal participation from a great number of artists: Sinéad O'Connor, Tommy Fleming, Brian Kennedy, Daniel O'Donnell, Ann Scott, Moya Brennan, Charlie Landsborough, Patrick Sheehy, Lumiere and the Scottish Glasgow Gospel Choir. The track was produced by John Reynolds and Tim Oliver and mastered at Soundmastwers, London. Tesco Ireland, Beaumex Ireland and Believe Digital distributed the single online and it was made available in Tesco stores through Ireland. The proceeds would go to build an Irish national monument for the Magdalene women.

Elaine Paige recorded a version during the sessions for her 1991 album Love Can Do That, which was only later released on her 1997 From a Distance compilation album.

Fairport Convention on the Wormwood Years album (1991)[14] and subsequently on other albums including the 2002 release From Cropready to Portmerion (recorded live during their 1990 British Winter Tour[15]).

In 1992, singer-songwriterJay Mankita wrote a parody, "From a Dog's Stance", which appeared in Sing Out! magazine and was later included on his recording, Dogs Are Watching Us.[16] Mankita adopts the viewpoint of the canine rather than the divine: "From a dog's stance, we all have enough... / so why not give dogs more? / From a dog's stance, dogs can't comprehend... / what all these cats are for."[16]

The song has also been satirized by singer-songwriter Sue Trainor in her In a Closeup.[17] According to a Washington Post review, "Trainor seems to genuinely admire 'From a Distance', Julie Gold's anthem of universal brotherhood, for she treats the hymn-like melody with great respect. She changes the lyrics, though, and instead of waxing poetic about the beauty of the world 'from a distance', she points out how flawed it all looks 'in a closeup'."[18]